Rainy Day Soup

It's raining in Southampton today, and poor Jan has a cold... this calls for soup! 

Spiced Pumpkin & Swede Soup with Feta (Serves 6)
(adapted from Peter Gordon's brilliant vege recipe book, 'Vegetables - the New Food Heroes')

• 1 red onion, sliced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil + some to roast the vegetables
• 1 leek, sliced and well rinsed 
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh ginger
• 3 tablespoons mirin
• 400g peeled and diced pumpkin or butternut squash
• 400g peeled and diced swede
• 3-4 teaspoons curry powder (I used a mix of warm spices - tumeric, ground cumin, garam masala, paprika, asafoetida, ground fenugreek, cinnamon, ground coriander and ground ginger - but a ready-made curry powder would be fine too)
• 900ml vegetable stock
• 3 tablespoons plain yoghurt
• 1 tablespoon salted butter
• 150g feta cheese
• Fresh parsley and coriander to serve

Place the pumpkin and swede in a baking dish and toss with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast in a moderate oven (180°C) until tender.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large saucepan and sauté the red onion until it begins to caramelise, stirring often.

Add the leek and ginger, and sauté for a few minutes more until softened. Add the mirin, and cook until evaporated. Add the roasted pumpkin and swede, along with the curry powder. Cook for a further 2 minutes while stirring, to allow the spices to coat the vegetables.

Pour in the vegetable stock and bring to the boil. Cover, and simmer for around 15 minutes.

Next, blend the soup until smooth-ish (I like to leave some texture, but up to you), then stir through the yoghurt and butter until well combined. Season with salt and pepper to taste -bearing in mind that you are about to add salty feta.

To serve, ladle the soup into bowls and crumble the feta over the top. Sprinkle with the fresh herbs to finish.